Review: A Soaring Soprano Helps Bel Canto at Caramoor Say Farewell

KATONAH, N.Y. — During the most vehement outbursts of the mad scene for the character of Imogene that concludes Bellini’s opera “Il Pirata,” the soprano Angela Meade, singing in a concert performance here at the Caramoor festival on Saturday night, really cut loose. She tore into fraught phrases, one moment leaping to high notes that blazed with steely sound and power, then the next dipping down to smoky, throbbing low tones. I was excited to hear elements of raw vocal intensity in her singing. This is just what many of her fans have been waiting for.

Ever since Ms. Meade made her professional opera debut in 2008, stepping in at the last minute for a performance of Verdi’s “Ernani” at the Metropolitan Opera, it has been clear that a remarkable new soprano has arrived. Her plush voice had enormous yet utterly unforced power. Her top notes could soar over a combined orchestra and chorus; yet her pianissimo high tones were even more impressive. Her technical agility and lyrical refinement were ideal for the florid bel canto repertory. All those qualities came through in her performance as Imogene on Saturday at Caramoor’s open-air Venetian Theater.

But in those earlier days, Ms. Meade lacked temperament and intensity. Her singing was always expressive. But she seemed cautious, and that reticence was sometimes frustrating.

In recent years, though, she has been taking more chances dramatically. An acclaimed run in the title role of Bellini’s “Norma” at the Met in 2013 seemed a breakthrough. And her Caramoor “Pirata” was even more exciting. Here was a soprano so secure in the technique and style of bel canto that she seemed to know she could push herself out of her comfort zone into risky emotional terrain without undermining the beauty of her singing.

This “Pirata” was presented through Bel Canto at Caramoor, a program that revitalizes bel canto opera, and has been thriving for 20 years under the leadership of the conductor, vocal coach and former New York Times music critic Will Crutchfield. This is its final season at Caramoor. Mr. Crutchfield is working out plans (and raising funds) to transfer the venture, renamed Teatro Nuovo, to Purchase College, part of the State University of New York.

Over the years, his Caramoor performances have been models of historic insight and careful preparation, qualities that characterized this “Pirata,” including the supple and articulate playing that Mr. Crutchfield drew from the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. And, as in summers past, this was a chance to hear a significant bel canto opera that remains an offshoot of the repertory. The Met has mounted only one run, during the 2002-3 season, as a vehicle for the soprano Renée Fleming.

The story, set against the backdrop of warring royal houses in 13th-century Sicily, is a melodrama of the type Bellini’s audiences savored. Gualtiero, the former count of Montalto, having been defeated by his rival Ernesto, the duke of Caldora, has spent years roaming the seas as the leader of a band of pirates. At the start of the opera, Gualtiero discovers that his beloved Imogene had been forced years ago to marry his rival. Her mad scene comes after Gualtiero, in a rage of jealousy, murders Ernesto and is condemned. Bellini, who was just 26 when he wrote this work, delves below the melodramatic surface of the story to explore the conflicting emotions, seething resentments and pervasive regrets that the characters endure through his elegant, lyrically refined music.

Mr. Crutchfield has a solid record of finding gifted emerging and lesser-known artists for his Caramoor performances. Santiago Ballerini, a young Argentine tenor, brought melting warmth and sensitive phrasing to Gualtiero. As Ernesto, Harold Wilson, a stentorian bass, sang with impressive focus, carrying power and quiet charisma. In supporting roles, the soprano Robyn Marie Lamp, the tenor Sean Christensen and the bass-baritone Joseph Beutel were all excellent. So was the well-trained chorus of Bel Canto Young Artists.

Ms. Meade will be busy at the Met this season, singing the title roles in “Norma” (later in the run of this new production) and Rossini’s “Semiramide.” Based on this performance, she seems ready.